5 (^03 

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Cottoi\ 

by: GcorVe H.Alford 








DIVERSIFIED 



FARMING 

IN 

THE COTTON BELT 



3y GEORGE H. JLFORD 



SPECIAL NOTICE 

This department has issued booklets on "For Better 
Corn in the Cotton Belt," and "Getting- a Start with 
Alfalfa in the Cotton Belt," and will in the future issue 
booklets on such subjects as cowpeas, soy beans, sweet 
clover, peanuts, velvet beans, rice and sugar cane. 

The purpose of this little booklet is to offer some 
suggestions of a general nature on diversified farming. 



Published and Copyrighted 

by the 

Agricultural Extension Department 

INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OP NEW JERSEY 

Prof, P. G. Holden, Director 

Chicago, U. S. A 



Note. ~- All or any portion of this booklet may be reproduced by eiving 
proper credit to the publishers. ' 



A. E. 40 






CONTENTS 



Page 

Some Reasons for Diversification of Crops ----- 3-6 

How to Diversify Crops 7-11 

Value of Leguminous Crops 12-16 

Lespedeza or Japan Clover - 17-20 

Pastures - 21-24 

Growing Oats - - - - 25-29 

Corn Growing ----------- 30-33 

Draft Horses and Mules 34-38 

Pork Production - - 39-42 

Live Stock Growing 43-47 

Literature - - - 48-49 



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Some Reasons for the Diversifi- 
cation of Crops 

Most Efficient Means of Establishing a Perma- 
nent System of Agriculture — One Crop 
System Impoverishes Not Only the 
Soil, but the People who 
Live Upon it. 



The most real and vital problem before us just at 
this time is to work out a safe and sane system of 
farming; one that will include crops to enrich instead 
of wear out our lands; one that will include plenty of 
good live stock to consume the surplus products and 
the leguminous crops that must be grown to enrich 
the land and to make manure to still further enrich 
the land; a sj'stem of farming that will grow the 
necessary corn, oats, wheat, rice, sugar cane, vege- 
tables, fruits of all kinds, poultry, hogs, mules, horses, 
cattle, sheep, and other live stock for home use and to 
sell at a price that the people in our towns and cities 
can afford to pay. 




George H. Alford 



Bad Effects of Exclusive Cotton Culture 

The too exclusive culture of cotton has exhausted the humus, the life 
giving principle in our soils; the washing of the clean cotton fields has gone 
on to such an extent that milhons of acres of the best land in the Cotton Belt 
have been made non-productive. The too exclusive culture of cotton makes 
it necessary to send the money obtained for cotton north to pay for corn, 
oats, pork, dairy products, mules, horses and other farm products. The too 
exclusive culture of cotton has caused over-production and thereby forced 
the price far below an equitable one so that there has been but little more than 
a bare living for cotton farmers. The too exclusive culture of cotton established 
the credit system. As long as our farmers raised their supplies at home there 
was no necessity for the credit system. The too exclusive culture of cotton 
compels us to buy on credit and dump all of our cotton on the market in the 
fall in order to satisfy our creditors and this forced selling beats the price 
down. 

If these statements be true why have we not practiced diversification more 
generally long ago? Many say that the farmers have been compelled to plant 
cotton to get credit and that the low price for cotton which so long prevailed 
made it impossible for the farmer to get out of debt and go forward unhampered 
on an independent basis. This is no doubt true of thousands of farmers. 



4 SUCCESS LIES IN DIVERSIFIED FARMING 

There are of course, numerous reasons for the too exclusive culture of 
cotton, but the argument used by most cotton farmers is that cotton is the 
most profitable crop to grow and that the larger the area in cotton the larger 
the profits. These cotton farmers usually show by figures that an acre of 
land that will grow forty bushels of corn will grow one bale of cotton and that 
the cotton will sell for more money than the corn. 



The Problem of Maintaining Soil Fertility 

Now come let us reason together for a few minutes. The success of any 
system of farming cannot be judged by the crops or the net earnings for one 
year or for five years. Any system of farming that impoverishes the land is 
a miserable failure no matter what the profits may be for one year or for five 
years. Our problems largely depend upon maintaining soil fertility and for 
this reason any system of farming that causes a decline in the fertility of the 
soil is a shame and disgrace to our farmers. 




Oats in a three year rotation with cotton and 



Our greatest asset is the fertility of our soil. Just in proportion as our 
soils are worn out in that proportion is oiu- prosperity diminished. No living 
man has ever acquired the art of growing good crops of grain, grasses, cotton, 
or vegetables on poor land. Poor soil always means small yields; small yields 
always mean poor people, and poor people always mean the credit system, 
very little education, uncomfortable homes, poorly equipped farms, and in 
fact all that retards civilization. 

In passing, permit me to suggest that land that will make one-half to 
three-fourths bale of cotton per acre on the average, one year with another, 
will make thirty bushels of oats and twenty bushels of soy beans or two tons 
of lespedeza hay. The oats and soy beans or lespedeza hay will sell for more 
cash than the cotton. These crops and corn and peas used in a rotation will 
surpass any one crop system because the fertility of the soil is increased when 



ONE CROP SYSTEM IMPOVERISHES THE LAND 5 

phosphoric acid is appHed annually while with the too exclusive culture of 
cotton the fertility rapidly decreases. 

Diversification Destroys Insect Enemies 

The most destructive and energetic insect that the world has ever known 
is gradually covering the Cotton Belt. There is one hope and only one hope 
for the farmers — that is the diversification of crops. The adoption of a 
sane and safe system of farming — one that will grow grasses, leguminous 
crops, oats, corn, hogs, sheep, cattle, mules, horses, and some cotton will 
solve the boll weevil problem. 

The credit system is the curse of the Cotton Belt, It sweeps the earnings 
of toil from the masses into the coffers of the few. Some years ago the Com- 
missioner of Agriculture of Georgia after careful inquiry of several hundred 
found that the average rates charged the farmers for extension of credit from 
April and May to October and November was fifty-four per cent per annum, 
over and above the cash price. Wives and children were compelled to work 
in the heat and cold from January until December to pay the fifty-four per 
cent credit profits. Diversification of crops will practically abolish the credit 
system. 

Grow Rather Than Import Products 

We are sending millions of dollars to other sections of the country every 
year to pay for farm products. Diversification of crops will keep this money 
at home, our banks will be full to overflowing and the rate of interest lowered 
to say, six per cent, because of the abundance of money. Then we will have 
the necessary money to pay good teachers better salaries to teach longer 
terms; money to build comfortable homes and good roads and to properly 
equip our farms. 

The growing of every farm product necessary for home use will curtail 
the production of cotton, raise the price to at least twelve cents per pound 
and keep the cotton money at home. This will mean prosperity and Ufe on 
the farm will then be free, unfettered by the bonds of promissory obligations 
and our position in the world made conspicuous by that independence which 
the farmer alone can enjoy in the fullest significance of the term. 

Millions Sent Out for Live Stock 

Every farmer should raise his own farm work stock. It is true that mil- 
lions are sent out of the Cotton Belt each year for mules and horses, but this 
is not the main reason why your attention is called to this subject at this 
time. Probably one of the two chief causes of poverty in the Cotton Belt is 
the one horse plow. The small mule and a turning plow is a guarantee of 
shallow soil devoid of vegetable matter. 

Farmers who buy their work stock never have enough for the most econom- 
ical production of crops. We have about one-fourth the horse power and earn 
about one-fourth as much money as farmers in some other sections of the 
country. 

Farmers who buy feed stuff to feed plow teams never raise sufficient farm 
work stock to supply their needs. We buy feed stuff and this is the main 



SOIL HAS LIFE AND LIMITATIONS 



reason why we have about one-fourth as many horses and mules as farmers in 
other sections of the country. 

We can save the milHons of dollars paid out for mules and horses each year 
and bring in milUons from the sale of mules and horses, but a greater profit 
will come from securing in this way sufficient work stock for economical crop 
production. 

What a One Crop System Means 

1. Poor soil. 

2. Small crops. 

3. The credit system. 

4. Work unevenly distributed. 

5. Injurious insects and plant diseases. 

6. Cotton money sent to other sections for farm products. 

7. Scarce money and high rates of interest. 

8. Poor people, poorly equipped farms, uncomfortable homes, bad roads, 
poorly paid teachers and preachers. 

How Soils Lose Plant Food 

1. By washing. 

2. By crops removed. 

3. By leaching. 

How Plant Food Can Be Put Into the Soil 

1. By growing and feeding leguminous crops. 

2. By barnyard manure. 

3. By applying commercial fertilizers. 

4. By plowing under gi-een crops. 

5. By plowing under corn and cotton stalks, oat and pea stubble, grass 
and weeds. 




The Holstein a good type of dairy cow 



/ 



How to Diversify Crops 

Safe and Sane System of arming for the Cotton Belt, 
Based on Scientific Experiments and Prac- 
tical Experiences of Farmers 

I do not wish to be understood as advocating the diversification of crops 
to the extent of developing a scarcity of raw cotton to meet the demand of 
the consuming world. Such a course would be fatal to our cotton growing 
interests in more ways than one. I am anxious to see a sufficiency of raw cot- 
ton produced each year to meet all demands of consumption. 

The Value of a Proper System of Crop Rotation 

Cotton is the greatest cash crop grown. The demand for it is rapidly 
increasing. The demand of the consuming world has doubled every twenty- 
two years. If we estimate thirteen milUon bales as a minimum supply for 
the world's clothing at the present time, it will require twenty-six million 
bales in 1932, and fifty-two million bales in 1954 to meet the demands of 
commerce. I do not advise the farmers of the Cotton Belt to supplant cotton 
as the main cash crop, but urge all of them to supplement it with thoroughly 
good permanent pastures, leguminous crops, grazing crops, forage crops, and 
good hve stock. The sensible thing for each farmer to do is to largely reduce 
his acreage of cotton, practice a system of rotation, including leguminous 
crops, and raise mules and horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, and other live stock. 
Plant fewer acres in cotton, fertihze and cultivate better and obtain an in- 
creased yield of Hnt cotton per acre. Under this modern system of farming 
some of our acres will not be needed for cotton. These can be thoroughly 
sodded to grasses and clovers, and planted in leguminous crops and corn, 
oats, rape, sorghum, and cane. Under these advanced methods, the soil 
will rapidly increase in fertihty, the money obtained for cotton will be kept 
at home, the cotton crop will cease to bear the entire burden of the total ex- 
pense of each farm, the iniquitous credit system that has for forty years 
dragged the growers bound and broken will no longer exist, and the growers 
will each year grow in strength and permanent prosperity. 

Keep Away From a Single Crop System 

The first efforts at breaking away from cotton usually consist in going 
largely into another single crop system of farming rather than going into the 
production of a variety of crops. Many farmers rush into the truck business; 
others plant their farms largely in Louisiana Cane, peanuts or sweet potatoes. 
Truck crops should be grown on every farm and in some particular localities 
they may constitute the main reliance for cash. Fortunes have been made by 
truck farmers with quick transportation facilities at their doors, but let us 
not forget that trucking has lured many farmers to financial ruin. The too 
exclusive culture of cane, peanuts, sweet potatoes or any other crop means 
poverty sooner or later. 



8 A MAN'S FARM SHOULD BE HIS HOME 

James J. Hill, one of the greatest thinkers of this age says: "Give us a 
system of farming that will greatly increase the fertility of the soil." He 
further states: "Forty years ago a farmer had to feed but one other than 
himself. Today every farmer must produce food for two besides himself." 

Henry Wallace recently said: "The nineteenth century farmer, speaking 
generally, was no farmer at all, but a miner of soil fertility, a soil robber." 
Mr. Hill speaking along the same hne says : "The average American farmer has 
no equal for carelessness and for adhering to discredited methods of farming. 
We will soon be unable to feed ourselves or to feed the boasted home markets 
for the other industries that we are building on a constantly narrowing base." 

Soil Fertility Most Important Problem 

Of course, we should drain the land, thoroughly prepare the seed bed, 
plant the best seed, practice frequent and shallow cultivation and make the 
most careful use of manure and fertilizers, but no problem is of so much 
importance as the maintenance of the supply of plant food in the soil. 







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Improved method of loading bay 

The first step to be taken in order to add to the supply of plant food, 
is to reduce washing to a minimum. The addition of vegetable matter, sow- 
ing of winter cover crops, deep plowing, and properly constructed terraces will 
reduce the washing of land to a minimum. 

Diversification of crops enables the farmer's family to fare sumptuously 
every day in the year on farm products, makes it possible for him to utilize 
three times as much land in such a way that its productiveness rapidly in- 
creases, instead of wearing out about fifteen acres at a time, and keeps the 
cotton money at home, but as Hill says our prime object in adopting a system 
of farming, should be to increase the fertility of the soil. 

The farmer should always strive to grow that crop or crops which extended 
over a long period will possess the greatest money value. By this I mean that 
farmers should not be so short-sighted as to sacrifice the fertility of their 
lands and future wealth for immediate returns. 



PROPER ROTATION OF CROPS NECESSARY 9 

Proper Rotation for Cotton 

It has been found by actual tests on experimental plots that on a definite 
area, say twenty acres, it is possible to produce as much cotton in ten years 
by practicing a three year rotation of corn and peas, then oats followed by 
peas and then cotton as it is possible to produce by planting the entire twenty 
acres to cotton every year. Carefully conducted tests have also proved con- 
clusively that live stock must be kept on a farm in order to produce the maxi- 
mum results. These tests show the absolute necessity for growing several 
crops and keeping hve stock. 

Before adopting a system of cropping and selecting the crops to grow, 
we must consider the local conditions, such as climate, labor supply, market 
demands, and transportation facilities. We can not grow perishable products 
unless we have quick transportation facilities. Even if a farm crop is not 
perishable and we have the quickest transportation facilities at our door, we 
must be careful not to glut the market. These observations being true, 
we find that we must devote our energies to staple farm crops such as grass, 
corn, peas, soy beans, cane, poultry, live stock, and some cotton. It is not 
enough to expose the evils of the one crop system. We must be able to show, 
on general lines, what system we intend to estabUsh as a substitute, and on 
general lines how the average cotton farmer can proceed. 

One of the following systems or a similar system if adopted and carried 
out by our cotton farmers, will in ten years, make our soils exceedingly pro- 
ductive, our farmers prosperous and the Cotton Belt, the financial center of 
the world. 

Cotton, first year; corn and peas, soy beans, or velvet beans, second year; 
oats, followed by lespedeza, soy beans or cowpeas, third year; or cotton and 
crimson clover sowed in the fall first year; June corn and volunteer crimson 
clover, second year; oats followed by soy beans, lespedeza, or cowpeas, third 
year; or cotton and crimson clover first year; June corn and volunteer crimson 
clover, second year; oats followed by lespedeza, third year; lespedeza, fourth 
year. 

Of course, commercial fertilizers, thoroughly good permanent pastures 
and plenty of good live stock must be added to the adopted system of farming. 




Nothing better than manure to enrich the soil 



10 MORE HAY MEANS MORE LIVE STOCK 

What Diversified Farming Means 

1. Less acres in cotton. 

2. The growing of the crops necessary for home use. 

3. The growing of crops to eni-ich the soil. 

4. Good permanent pastures. 

5. Forage crops, principally leguminous crops. 

6. The raising of good live stock to consume the leguminous crops gro-wM 
to enrich the land and to make manure to still further enrich the land. 

7. Feeding crops grown to good live stock. 

8. The careful saving of barnyard manure. 

9. The distributing of farm work evenly throughout the year. 

10. Green crops growing on the land every month in the year. 

11. Reducing soil washing and leaching to the minimum. 

12. Raising of the draft horses and mules necessary for economical crop 
production. 

Suggestive Rotation of Crops, Three Year Rotation 

Field "A" Field "B" Field "C" 

1914 Cotton and a Winter Corn and Cowpeas Small Grain and a 
Cover Crop legume 



1915 Corn and Cowpeas Small Grain and a Cotton and a Winter 

legume Cover Crop 



1916 Small Grain and a Cotton and a Winter Corn and Cowpeas 
legume Cover Crop 

i, Cotton 

Cost of Growing: ** 

Land Rent $4.00 

Preparation 2 . 33 

Fertihzer 4.00 

Seed 25 

Planting 66 

Cultivating 2.80 

Picking (at 60c per 100) 9 . 00 

Ginning and hauling 5 . 00 



Total $28.04 

Loss in fertility 23 . 70 



$51.74 
Income : 

500 pounds lint cotton at 10c $50.00 

1000 pounds cotton seed at Mc 7 . 50 



Total $57.50 



AVOID A ONE CHOP SYSTEM OF AORICULTURE 



11 



Comparative Value 
of 
Fertility In Farm Produce 
Nitrogen 20c, Phosphoric Acid and Potash 5c 



Cotton in Seed $31 . 60 per 

Vetch Hay 15.50 

Shelled Corn 12.25 

Clover Hays 11.90 

Wheat (grain) 10.00 

Fat Cattle 9 . 30 

Oats (grain) 8.43 

Soy Bean Hay 8 . 33 

Cowpea Hay 8 . 30 

Fat Hogs 6. 24 

Milk 2.02 

Lint Cotton 1 . 80 

Butter 72 



ton 




These fit well into diversified farming 



Value of Leguminous Crops 

Fertilizing Value of Leguminous Crops — Add Free Nitro- 
gen to the Soil and Increase the Yield 
of the Crops That Follow 

Leguminous crops have a very important place in every safe and sane 
system of farming. These crops possess a characteristic which makes them 
of the highest value to farmers. This is the power to utilize the free nitrogen 
of the soil air. When we examine the roots of luxuriantly growing plants, 
we find numerous nodules or tubercles on them. These tubercles are caused 
by certain organisms or bacteria in the soil. It now seems that there is a 
special form of bacteria for each legume grown, though some forms of bac- 
teria in time learn to live on two or more legumes. 

Methods of Soil Inoculation 

It is a matter of great importance to furnish the soil lacking the necessary 
organisms with a good supply of the right kind. There are several methods 




Cowpeas in the corn Tield indicates good farming 
12 



LEGUMINOUS CROPS ENRICH THE LAND 13 

of putting the necessary bacteria in the soil. A good way of inoculating the 
soil is to soak the seed at planting time in water in which the soil from a 
field where the legume has been successfully grown for a number of years 
has been stirred. Another excellent way of inoculating the soil is to drill 
in with the seed soil in which that particular legume has been grown for a 
number of years. Care should be taken to keep the soil out of the sunshine 
from the time it is taken from the field until it is worked into the soil of the 
next, as the rays of the sun kill the bacteria. It is best to get the soil and 
apply it on a cloudy day, or late in the afternoon. 

Nitrogen is the costliest element of plant food and is becoming scarcer 
and dearer so far as its commercial forms are concerned. This being true, 
a system of farming which provides means for the collection of this valuable 
and costly element from the air and a medium through which it can be stored 
up for the use of succeeding crops is of the highest importance and utility 
to farmers. Experiments conducted at the Alabama Station showed that 
a crop of pea vines grown on an acre of sandy soil of moderate fertihty con- 
tained 115 pounds of nitrogen; an acre of velvet beans, 201 pounds; an acre 
of crimson clover 143 pounds; and an acre of hairy vetch 202 pounds. An 
experiment conducted at Louisiana Station showed that a crop of peanuts 
contained 192 pounds of nitrogen; an acre of velvet beans, 191 pounds, and 
an acre of cowpeas, 108 pounds. When calculated according to the scale 
of fertilizer valuation, the value of nitrogen exceeded the cost of a ton of 
ordinary complete fertilizer. The nitrogen was equivalent in amount to 
that contained in from 1,750 pounds to more than one ton of cotton seed 
meal. 

The question is often asked if it is necessary to plow under the leguminous 
crops in order to increase the nitrogen in the soil. Of course, the per cent 
of fertilizer value of the fallen leaves, stems, and roots of the leguminous 
crops left in the field at harvesting time vary. However, the fallen leaves, 
stems, and roots usually contain from one-fifth to one-third of the manurial 
value of the entire plants of the leguminous crops. This being true, we are 
in a position to assert positively that the nitrogen in the soil will be increased 
by the growing of leguminous crops, even though the crop is grazed off or 
cut for hay. 

Live Stock Farmers Should Feed Crop 

The live stock farmer should seldom plow under a leguminous crop. The 
stock should gi'aze off the crop or it should be harvested and fed to the stock, 
and the manure saved and returned to the land. It will often pay the all- 
cotton, the all-cane, the all-truck farmer to plow under pea vines, soy bean 
vines, and other leguminous crops, but the live stock farmer does not need 
to plow under such valuable grazing and hay crops. 

In an experiment conducted at the Alabama Station a crop of pea vines 
grown on one acre, contained 45 pounds of phosphoric acid and 101 pounds 
of potash. The legumes add only nitrogen to the soil and remove large 
quantities of potash and phosphorus, especially when cut for hay and the 
hay sold or the manure resulting therefrom is not returned to the land. It 
should be emphasized that the mere growing of legumes or the introduction 



14 ALFALFA AND SWEET CLOVER ON EVERY FARM 

of legumes into the farm rotation will not increase indefinitely the productivity 
of the soil. Liberal applications of phosphoric acid and potash must be made 
where the soil does not contain an abundance of these elements. 

The farmer who gi'ows leguminous crops and keeps good live stock wants 
to know whether to use the treated or untreated phosphate rock to increase 
the yield of his legumes and improve his soil. The conclusions drawn from 
a careful study of the results obtained at several experiment stations are that 
on a very poor soil, acid phosphate will pay better for a few years at any 
rate, even if the leguminous crops are turned under, but that on a very fertile 
soil raw phosphate rock will pay better, especially when used with stable 
manure or leguminous crops. In most cases it would seem to be advisable 
to use a hght application of acid phosphate with the untreated phosphate 
rock the first year and some time for several years, until the latter gets into 
action. 

Legumes used as winter cover crops not only transfer nitrogen from the 
air to the soil, but at the same time reduce the leaching out of the plant food 
already present in the soil to the minimum. More humus and nitrogen in 
the soil and more winter and early spring grazing are probably the greatest 
needs of the south. These needs can be fully satisfied by planting such 
crops as the vetches or the winter clovers. In discussing the subject of 
legumes as a winter cover crop. Dr. Tait Butler says: "For many j'ears to 
come the plowing under of crops grown as winter cover crops will be the most 
practical and profitable method of increasing the fertility of our soils and 
rapid increase is not likely to occur until this method becomes general as a 
frequent and constant practice." 

Leguminous Crop Rich in Protein 

The leguminous crops are especially rich in protein, which furnishes 
material for the production of lean meat, muscles, nerves, skin, blood, tendon, 
wool, hair, casein in milk, albumin of eggs, and so forth. This makes the 
legumes especially valuable for feeding farm animals in connection with fat 
producing foods, such as corn and sorghum. 




power is cheaper than human labor 



FEED WHAT YOU RAISE— RAISE WHAT YOU FEED 15 

The German standard rations were computed from digestion experiments 
without reference to the comparative cost or convenience of obtaining the 
various feeding stuffs. There is a growing tendency to break away from the 
idea which has long prevailed that successful feeding must conform to the 
German feeding standards. Professor W. A. Henry says: "The feeder 
should not accept the statement in the standard as absolute, but rather as 
data of a helpful nature to be varied in practice as circumstances suggest." 

Leguminous crops must be grown in the Cotton Belt to economically 
enrich our cultivated lands and there is every reason why we should feed our 
live stock largely on legumes. The fat in the corn and other fat producing 
foods cannot be used by animals for building up muscles, blood and other 
tissues of the body, but the protein in the leguminous crops may under 
certain conditions form fat and later furnish heat and energy. This at least 
justifies the farmer, who grows leguminous crops to enrich his soil, in feeding 
narrow rations. Owing to the fact that we can grow leguminous crops every 
month in the year for grazing, for bay and for grain. Cotton Belt farmers 
should feed stock largely on legumes, although the rations may often be 
narrow. Legumes mean rich land and fat stock. 



Why We Should Grow Leguminous Crops 

\. To transfer nitrogen from the air to the soil. 

2. To furnish foodstuffs rich in protein. 

3. To pump phosphoric acid and potash up from the subsoil. 

4. To open up the subsoil. 

5. To add humus to the soil. 



Soy Beans 

COST OF GROWING 

Land rent $ 4.00 

Seed 75 

Plowing 2.00 

Fertilizer • 1.00 

Discing 33 

Dragging 48 

Planting (horse planter) 22 

Cultivating 1 . 61 

Cutting (mowing machine) 60 

Raking and shocking 1 . 50 

Threshing at 6c per bushel 1 . 20 

Total $13.69 

Loss in fertility 00.00 

$13.69 



16 DO NOT IMPORT FOOD PRODUCTS 

INCOME 

19.5 bushels soy beans at $2.00 $39.00 

1.76 tons soy bean straw at $3.00 5 . 28 

Total $44.28 

The value of the nitrogen put in the soil by the growing of soy beans is 
probably worth more than the phosphoric acid and potash removed. 

Cowpeas 

COST OF GROWING 

Land rent $ 4.00 

Plowing 2.00 

Discing 33 

Fertilizer 1 . 00 

Seed Value 75 

Dragging 48 

Planting (horse planter) 22 

Cultivating 1 . 61 

Cutting (mowing machine) 60 

Raking and shocking 1 . 50 

Hauling to thresher 1 . 60 

Threshing at 9c 1 . 12 

Total $15.21 

Loss in fertility 00 . 00 

Total cost to farmer $15.21 

INCOME 

12.5 bushels cowpeas at $2.00 $25.00 

1.15 tons cowpea straw at $3.00 3.45 

Total $28.45 

One acre of soy beans yielded 20 bushels of soy beans and 2,905 pounds 
of straw. 

Feeding Beef Cattle 

One acre of cowpeas yielded 13 bushels of cowpeas and 1,365 pounds of 
straw. 

One acre of corn yielded 34 bushels of corn and 3,544 pounds of stover. 
The acre of soy beans produced 540 pounds beef. 
The acre of cowpeas produced 327 pounds beef. 
The acre of corn produced 203 pounds beef. 
Tenn. Bui. 79. 



Lespedeza or Japan Clover 

Lespedeza Adaptable to the Cotton Belt— Makes Good 
Pasture — Fits in a Three Year Rotation 
of Corn and Peas — Is Commended 
to Boll Weevil Territory 

The Cotton Belt is face to face with a very grave crisis, and how to meet 
this crisis is the question of paramount importance to cotton farmers and 
especially to cotton growers in the lower South. Enormous sums of money 
annually flow into the Cotton Belt in payment for cotton and cottonseed 
products. Already the income from this source in South Louisiana, South 
Alabama and South Mississippi, has been cut to one-half. The production 
of cotton in many other localities has been very much lessened. The weevil 
will soon cover the Cotton Belt. 

Only one rational method of meeting this loss presents itself and that 
method is the diversificati(^ of crops. We must raise our own hogs, horses, 
mules, cattle and poultry. We must have good pastures and good hays. 
The best pastures in the South are perhaps those which in summer consist 
of Bermuda grass and lespedeza. Lespedeza hay is not inferior to the best 
kinds of hay. 

It is generally believed that lespedeza was introduced into many localities 
during the Civil War for the reason that it first appeared soon after the war. 
It grows freely along the roadsides, on the banks of gullies, and on hillsides 
and the seed are carried in mud on vehicles and in streams of water all over 
the country. Live stock eat the hay and many of the seed pass through the 
animal with unimpaired germinating power. 

Lespedeza Grows Wild in South 

Lespedeza is now growing wild over all the South except in Western 
Texas. It is a grazing plant in all of this territory, but it is now considered 
a profitable hay crop only in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and in certain 
localities in other states in the lower South. Within a few years it will 
probably be a profitable hay crop wherever cotton grows. 

Lespedeza is an annual legume that comes from seed late in the spring 
and is killed by frost in the fall. The stems are very slender, branch at 
every joint and grow to a height of six to twenty-four inches. 

When the plants are very thick, many of the side branches are shedded 
off and they begin to bloom later than where they have plenty of space. 
No authority on the subject gives the time required for the seed to mature. 
The length of time from bloom to mature seed decreases as the season pro- 
gresses. 

The lespedeza seed is a one-seeded pod. The seed are never threshed 
from the pods because it is a very difficult and unnecessary task. Well 
cleaned seed weighs twenty-five pounds per bushel. 

Lespedeza thrives on a variety of soils, but it prefers a well drained, 
moist, fertile soil. Sandy soils in uplands seldom supply the necessary 
moisture to grow a profitable crop of hay. 



18 LESPEDEZA ADAPTABLE TO COTTON BELT 

Where the soil responds to acid phosphate it usually pays to make an 
application of about 600 pounds of sixteen per cent acid phosphate per acre 
at the time of planting oats or about 500 pounds per acre when the lespedeza 
seed are sown. Where the lespedeza is grown in a permanent pasture, ground 
phosphate rock will usually pay on land that responds to applications of 
acid phosphate. 

Adds Nitrogen and Humus to Soil 

Lespedeza is a legume and gets nitrogen from the air. It increases the 
nitrogen and humus in the soil rapidly. The soil in every locality seems to 
be inoculated and for this reason artificial inoculation is unnecessary. 

Experiment seed men who have made germination tests of seed carried 
over report good results. Some growers claim that seed placed under too 
deep will come up three years later when brought to the surface. 

Bloat in animals from grazing lespedeza is unknown even when pure 
lespedeza is grazed. Horses often slobber to some extent when grazing 
lespedeza or eating lespedeza hay, but seldom to* such an extent as to be 
objectionable. 

Lespedeza is a constituent of practically every pasture in the region 
covered by its distribution. It is looked upon with high favor as a con- 
stituent of pastures. It grows on all types of soil even the poorest and 
furnishes good grazing. It is estimated that it will increase the carrying 
capacity of the pasture land in the Cotton Belt 25 per cent. 

It is rarely necessary to sow lespedeza seed on pasture land. When 
necessary to do so it is only necessary to scarify the surface of the ground 
with a disk harrow and sow the seed. It occasionally happens that the 
lespedeza seed sprout during exceptionally warm weather in the late winter 
and are killed by late frosts. Such pastures should be reseeded early in the 
spring. 

Our lighter fertile, moist soils are probably best adapted to its growth 
for hay. There is not such a tendency to the excessive growth of large grasses 
and weeds on such soils as there is on heavy black clay soils and on very wet 
river bottom lands. 




Lespedeza a great hay crop for the South 






BARNYARD MANURE IS A VALUABLE FERTILIZER 19 

Sow After a Cultivated Crop 

It is advisable to sow lespedeza seed after cultivated crops. The presence 
of weeds and undesirable grasses in lespedeza hay is a serious evil and can 
best be prevented by adopting a rotation of crops in which from one-half to 
three-fifths of the land is-in lespedeza. The following four year rotation is 
suggested: First year, cotton; second year, corn; third year, oats followed 
by lespedeza; fourth year, lespedeza. This puts haK the farm in cultivated 
crops and half in lespedeza with oats on one-fourth of the whole farm. 

A three year rotation of corn and peas, oats followed by lespedeza and 
then lespedeza has much to commend it for the boll weevil territory. Corn 
and peas are harvested the first year, oats and lespedeza the second year, 
lespedeza alone the third year. The cotton is omitted in this rotation because 
the boll weevil often does so much damage in the lower South that the farmers 
are willing to drop cotton and plant something else. 

Probably the best plan for a few years is to plant the land in oats in the 
fall and sow lespedeza seed on the oats in March. Flat break the land with 
large plows and strong teams in October. Disk and double disk and harrow 
and cross harrow until the soil is thoroughly pulverized. After the land is 
in thorough tilth, pass a drag over it to get it smooth and level. Follow the 
drag by a good grain drill, planting from two to three bushels of rust-proof 
oats per acre. 

Soon after March first run a peg-tooth section steel harrow over the oats 
to prevent heavy rains from drifting the seed and plant one bushel of good, 
sound, well cleaned lespedeza seed per acre. Be sure and plant seed that are 
well matured, well cleaned and were taken from the lespedeza hay without 
its being heated. And let us not forget that some of the seed put upon the 
market is not fit to plant. 

The cutting and curing of the best hay begins about September first and 
extends to October 15th or in very favorable seasons until frost. If the best 
quality of hay is wanted cut when in bloom. If we care to save seed, it will 
of course be necessary to wait until some of the seed is mature. Start the 
mower when the dew is off in the morning. 

Methods of Harvesting and Storing Crops 

The principal thing in curing hay is to avoid dew, sunburn and rain. 
After sunning about two hours windrow the hay, then cross the windrow and 
rake it up into piles. Then shock the piles of about three hundred pounds 
and cap each one before night to keep off the dew. Cover it with caps ten 
feet square made out of eight-ounce duck or lowells which cost about eight 
cents per yard. Leave it covered in the cocks for from seven to ten days to 
go through a sweat. After that is done bale it as fast as you can. 

Many of the most successful lespedeza hay growers say that the barn is 
absolutely necessary to the most successful curing of lespedeza hay. When 
curing the grade of choice hay, that is hay containing very little foreign sub- 
stance and cut at the proper time it is kept in the covered cocks about two 
days, scattered for only a few minutes and then hauled to the barn and kept 
there for about four weeks before baling it. 



H 



y 



20 SOUTH NEEDS BETTER HORSES AND CATTLE 

Where it is desirable to have the crop reseed itself, some of the seeds 
must be allowed to mature. The reseedin g of land is usually accomplished 
by the seed on spreading branches which are too near the ground to be mowed. 
However, tall and crowded plants do not produce seed near the ground and 
when cut just before some of the seed mature seldom reseed the land. 

There are several methods of reseeding the land. You may leave six 
inch strips of uncut lespedeza at each round of the mower; the crop may be 
cut after some of the seeds have matured so that enough will shatter while 
harvesting the crop to reseed the land; or the crop may be cut when the first 
blossoms appear so as to give new growth from the stubble time to mature 
seed before frost. 

Profitable to Grow for Seed 

The lespedeza seed are very valuable. The average of seed obtained per 
acre is about eight bushels but as high as fifteen bushels per acre is often 
obtained. The price varies from three dollars to five dollars per bushel. The 
present demand for the seed is much greater than the supply. 

There are several ways of saving lespedeza seed. Certain meadows may 
be set aside and not cut until after November first. The hay is run through 
a thresher which is arranged for the purpose by removing some of the teeth 
from the concave plate over which the cylinder revolves and placing seed 
sieves in the machine. By driving the cylinder slowly the seed is beaten out 
and not carried away by the fan but is very nicely cleaned. Another method 
is to attach a large pan to the blade frame of the mower and catch seed as 
shattered in the mowing. The hay may then be threshed in order to get the 
mature seed that did not shatter. It is a good plan to use the pan to catch 
the shattered seed and then thresh the hay before baling. The seed caught 
by the pan should be passed through a good fanning mill. 

Many farmers use the pan to catch the shattered seed, use tight wagon 
frames or else spread sheets over the bottom so as to catch the loose seed, 
have the tables slotted on which the hay is thrown to the man who feeds the 
thresher or hay press so that the seed can fall on a sheet on the ground and 
also use a press perforated in the bottom of the chest so that the seed from 
unthreshed hay may fall to the ground. 




The soy bean supplies a wealth of forage 



Pastures a Necessity to Live 
Stock Farmer 

Farmers of the Cotton Belt Should Devote More Atten- 
tion to Permanent Pastures— Some of the 
Grasses Best Adapted to Cotton Belt 

If the Cotton Belt is to raise hogs, mules, horses, cattle, sheep, and other 
live stock successfully, under present land and labor conditions, it must 
resort to pastures and cheap hays. If it is to produce the necessary quantity 
and quality of all kinds of live stock it must devote more and better land to 
pastures and meadows. 

Many farmers in the South prize wheat, corn, oats, cotton, rice, and 
cane as crops because their growth has become a habit. Very few farmers 
have compared the profit derived from an acre of cotton and an acre of 
Bermuda Grass, lespedeza and some winter clover. On many farms the 
growing of cotton represents a loss instead of a profit. On many farms m 
the South the growing of leguminous crops for two or three years until the 
worn out cotton lands will grow good grass and the sodding of the land in 
Bermuda grass and the growing of pure bred hogs, sheep, cattle, and goats, 
horses, and mules will result in big profits instead of the loss sustained by the 
growing of cotton on the same land year after year. Senator Ingalls said, 
"Next in importance to the divine profusion of water, light and air— those 
three physical facts which render existence possible— may be reckoned the 
universal beneficence of grass." Ingalls told the whole truth, but few far- 
mers in the South believe what he said. Not one farmer in a thousand fuUy 
appreciates the full value of a good permanent pasture. The most pros- 
perous counties in England owe their prosperous agriculture to the mag- 
nificent pastures. The blue grass region of Kentucky has done much to 
cause our farmers to appreciate grass to some extent. There are sections 
of Tennessee and Virginia where the successful growing of fine stock has 
helped Kentucky to gain friends for grass. 

Permanent Pastures Recommended for South 

We firmly believe that we are teUing the truth when we say that the 
main cause of the lack of prosperity on southern farms is the absence of good 
permanent pastures. We have turned out a worn gullied cotton field stretched 
two or three barbed wires around it and called it our pasture. Not a furrow 
was turned, not a seed was sown. No wonder that our pastures are often 
referred to as "a place where grass does not grow." 

A good pasture is made by thoroughly preparing very fertile soil and 
seeding it to the right kind of mixed grasses, so that every square foot of it 
is well covered with nutritious grasses and clovers instead of broom sedge, 
briars and weeds. The large majority of us have never had a good per- 
manent pasture and therefore base our conclusions on the value of a perman- 
ent pasture on our experience with a pasture where grass does not grow. 
We have never yet valued a thoroughly good permanent pasture high enough. 



22 SOUTH NEEDS MORE THOROUGHBRED STOCK 

There are, of course, pastures without grass such as, pastures of cow- 
peas, soy beans, peanuts, velvet beans, oats and so forth, but these are tem- 
porary pastures and last for only a short time. Of course, we must have 
such temporary pastures in order to succeed in the live stock business, but 
the subject before us just at present is a good permanent pasture full of 
nutritious grasses and clovers. We are talking about taking land and 
thoroughly preparing it and fertilizing it with acid phosphate and planting 
it in cowpeas, soy beans, lespedeza, peanuts or some other good leguminous 
crop for one or two years and then sodding it in Bermuda grass, burr clover, 
and white clover and lespedeza for pure bred hogs, cattle, horses, mules, sheep 
and other live stock to graze. 

Bermuda Grass Best Pasture 

The best pasture grass for the South is Bermuda. We are growing corn 
and cotton on poor soil and feeding a few scrub stock to obtain the necessary 
cash to pay expenses. We are not able to say just what is the average cost 
of production of an acre of corn or cotton, but the cost of an acre of Bermuda 
grass on fertile soil is a fence and a gate to turn the stock in. The stock will 
harvest the grass and usually bring a large per cent of clear profits. 

Bermuda grass is the great pasture grass of the sub-tropical and warmer 
temperate regions throughout the world. It is widely distributed through- 
out the Cotton Belt and holds the place in those states that Kentucky blue 
grass holds in the North. It is a warm weather grass; it will not grow in 
cold weather and usually winter kills when the temperature falls much 
below the zero point. 

It is primarily a pasture grass and is relished by all kinds of stock. It 
will stand close grazing and much tramping. It also makes hay of excellent 
quality, but it will not grow tall enough to mow, except on very fertile soil. 
On fertile soil under favorable conditions, it often furnishes two or three 
cuttings, yielding in a season from two to four tons of hay per acre. 

Since it furnishes no late fall or early spring pasture, summer and winter 
clovers and vetches must be added to the sod or other grasses or annual 
pasture crops must be grown in order to supply continuous grazing for stock. 
We can mix lespedeza, white or burr clovers, and the vetches with Bermuda 
and they will grow well together. We can also mix orchard grass, tall oat 
grass, and red top, with Bermuda. By putting lespedeza on the Bermuda 
to assist in furnishing summer pasture and winter clovers or a vetch on it to 
furnish some winter and early spring grazing, we can supply continuous 
grazing for our stock and at the same time enrich our land. 

Sow lespedeza seed on Bermuda sod in February or early March; sow 
the winter clovers or vetch seed in September and October. When the seed 
is sown on a heavy sod, it is usually necessary to disk it in order to insure 
germination of the seed at an early date. 

Preparing the Soil for Bermuda 

Bermuda may be propagated both from seed and root cuttings. The 
seed method is not recommended except where it is very difficult to secure 
pieces of sod. Plow th(> land deep and disk and harrow until it is fine. 



PIOS AND CALVES MAKE BETTER FARMS 23 

Lay off rows about two feet apart and four inches deep with shovel plows. 
Drop small pieces of the sod every two feet in the furrows and cover with a 
harrow. A drag or light roller will put the finishing touches on the job. 
The sodding of the land may be done at any time during the year. 

When we have made our hill land fertile by deep plowing, the addition 
of commercial fertilizers and the growing of leguminous crops, and have 
thoroughly sodded it in Bermuda grass and summer and winter clovers, we 
can cut out some of our unprofitable labor, substituting good hogs, brood 
mares and cattle and furnish the best tenants labor saving implements and 
strong teams to till the more level acres on the farm. 

The pasture lands should not only be fertile, thoroughly prepared and 
properly fertiUzed before sodding it in grass, but the briars, brush and weeds 
must be kept down and the grasses fertihzed and cultivated every two or 
three years. Where lespedeza or some winter clover or both grow on Ber- 
muda sod, it will not be necessary to apply nitrogen except to the poorer 
spots. It will usually pay to apply a light dressing of phosphate once every 
two years where the soil responds to phosphoric acid. On some sandy soil, 
it will pay to apply potash every two years. The use of a disk harrow on 
the Bermuda sod every two years will cause it to take on new life. 

We must not permit stock to graze the pastures too close. If we keep 
the leaves of any plant constantly cut, it will finally die. It is a most excel- 
lent plan to have two pastures and never graze one more than two weeks at 
a time. 

Let us urge the farmers of the Cotton Belt, especially those to the east 
of the boll weevil line, to put a large per cent of the cotton land in grass 
We have a great variety of grasses to choose from, such as Bermuda, blue 
grass, meadow foxtail, orchard grass, red top, meadow fescu, alsike clover 
and tall oat grass. 

We Must Have Permanent Pastures 
Why? 

1. To cheapen animal production. 

2. To maintain farm fertility. 



How? 

1. Drain wet places. 

2. Increase fertility of soil. 

a. Thorough breaking. 

b. Grow summer and winter legumes. 

c. Add acid phosphate, some nitrogen and some potash where 
needed . 

3. Sod in Bermuda grass. 

4. Sow lespedeza on Bermuda sod. 

5. Sow a mixture of vetch, crimson and burr clover on Bermuda sod. 

6. Use barnyard manure on poorest spots. 



24 



FEED TOUR STOCK A BALANCED RATION 



7. Keep down bushes, briars and weeds. 

8. Cultivate every two or three years. 

9. Do not pasture too closely. 



Care of Pasture 



Don't fail to cultivate. 
Don't fail to fertihze. 
Don't fail to cut weeds. 
Don't graze too early. 
Don't graze too close. 



I. . : 




Soy beans yield abundant crops and add nitrogen to the soil 




Pigs idea of Heaven 



Advantages of Growing Oats 

Oats the Most Profitable Small Grain Crop for the 

Cotton Belt — Planting, Harvesting and 

Care of the Crop 

The chief crops grown in the Cotton Belt are cotton and corn. As 
an average for a ten-year period of 1900 to 1909, there was planted from ten 
to fifteen acres of corn to each acre of oats in the various Cotton Belt states. 
During the same time an average of the oat crop per acre was $10.09, while 
the average value per acre of corn was $11.02. Figuring the cost of growing 
an oat crop and a corn crop, we find that the oat crop was the most profit- 
able. There are several important reasons why we should sow millions of 
acres of oats in the Cotton Belt. The oat crop would reduce washing and 
leaching to the minimum, furnish grazing, add to the deplorably deficient 
supply of humus, add to the always short supply of food stuffs and supple- 
ment the money crop — cotton. 

Of course, there are better winter cover crops than oats. Burr clover 
and crimson clover and the vetches, and in some cases some of the other 
winter cereals are better. We do not claim that oats alone or that oats and 
hairy vetch combined should be grown for the sole purpose of supplying a 
cover crop. However, in view of the fact that oats will grow on poor land, 
poorly prepared and it costs little to seed an acre, it is a good winter cover 
crop for the many thousands of farmers who have not learned to grow winter 
legumes. 

Results of Feeding Experiment With Oats 

Two and one-half acres were planted in oats at the experiment station 
at Baton Rouge, La., for a grazing experiment on September 28th. October 
29th, seven Poland China Hogs, weighing in total 276 pounds, were put on 
this plat and were given no feed but the green oats during the winter. Feb- 
ruary 17th, the pigs weighed a total of 568 pounds. There was an average 
gain of .37 pounds per pig per day for 110 days. From October 29th to 
January 1st, 45 head of sheep were pastured on this same plat. Of this 
number, eight ewes and nine lambs were pastured continuously thereafter 
until February 17th, at which date the lambs averaged 68 days old and 
weighed 35.5 pounds each. Allowing six cents per pound for the lambs, we 
have a return of $13.40 per acre, plus the pasturage of the sheep not con- 
sidered in the estimate. 

The loss of humus in the soil results in the decreasing of its power of stor- 
ng up and properly supplying crops with water. Soils with a hberal supply 
of humus are capable of more effectually withstanding drought than similar 
soils with less humus. The oat crop fills the soil full of roots, and the stubble 
also adds much humus to the soil. 

The oat grain is very valuable feed, especially for young animals because 
of its moderately high protein content and the large amount of ash and 
mineral matter. Pound for pound, oats are not as valuable for feeding ma- 



26 



MIX BRAINS WITH LABOR 



ture animals as corn, four pounds of corn being equal to about five pounds 
of oats. However, when we consider the cost of growing the two crops and 
the fact that feed is always scarce when the oat crop is harvested, we are 
forced to admit that every farmer in the Cotton Belt should grow oats. 

In attempting to build up the worn out cotton lands, we must depend 
very largely on the leguminous crops. The oat crop is harvested early enough 
to permit the growing of a leguminous crop. The leguminous crop may be 
plowed under or it may be used as feed, and the manure returned to the land. 
If we are going to build up our land and raise good stock, we must grow oats, 
follow with legume crops, and feed stock. 

Oats Best Paying Small Grain 

Oats are probably the best paying small grain crop that can be grown 
over practically the entire Cotton Belt. The same soil that will produce 
one bale of cotton or 40 bushels of corn per acre will produce 60 bushels of 




Oals a paying grain crop 

oats. At the average price that has prevailed for oats during the last five 
years, the 60 bushels will sell for from .$36.00 to $40.00 and the straw when 
baled will often pay for growing the grain. 

It is best to plant oats after corn and peas. Cut the corn stalks and pea 
vines into pieces with a disk harrow. The disk harrow is the best possible 
implement to use in preparing the corn and pea fields for oats. The drill 
will clog in trashy ground and particularly when working in uncut stalks 
and pea vines. When the disk harrow is used before the land is broken, the 
drill runs freely and easily, thus depositing the seed evenly. After using the 
disk harrow to cut the corn stalks, plow the land deep, then disk and double 
disk and harrow and cross harrow until every inch of the soil has been stirred 
and broken as fine as possible. After a good rain or tfie use of a roller, the 
land is ready for the seed. 

A mixture of 300 pounds of 16 per cent acid phosphate, 100 pounds of 
cotton seed meal, and 200 lbs. of potash, followed in March witli a top dress- 



WINTER OATS A OOOD CROP 27 



ing of 50 to 75 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre is good fertilizer for oats 
on average soil. 

The best varieties for fall sowing in the South are of the Red Rust proof 
type. The original Red Rust proof, the Appier and Bancroft are so nearly 
alike that no one can tell them apart if shown side by side. The Burt oat 
is for spring sowing. 

The quantity of seed that is necessary to sow an acre of oats is variable 
If sown early in the season or if sown on very fertile soil, a smaller quantity 
of seed may be used than if sown late or sown on poor land. If the crop is 
drilled, 25 per cent less seed may be used than if the same crop were to be 
sown broadcast. Experiments show that two and a half bushels per acre is 
about right under average conditions. 

There are three methods commonly practiced of planting oats; namely, 
sowing broadcast, open furrow and drilling. Drilhng of the seed is to be 
preferred since considerably less seed can be used if drilled; the seed are 
covered at a uniform depth and come up, grow, and ripen uniformly; the 
small ridges made by the drill afford a slight degree of protection from the 
cold; and the yield from drilled oats is usually greater than that from broad- 
cast oats. The seed saved, and the larger crops that usually result from drilled 
oats will soon pay for a good drill on the farm. 

Harvest the Oat Crop Early 

We should harvest the oat crop early. Cutting should begin as soon as 
about 90 per cent has turned yellow— just as soon as all the grain is in the 
dough stage — if we do not own a good mowing machine, or better still, a 
good binder, now is the time to buy one. The cradle is too slow and the 
waste when using a cradle is enormous. 

A mowing machine or binder will often do the work for several farmers 
in a neighborhood. One farmer will often find it profitable to own a mower 
or binder and to work for his neighbors at a reasonable price. 

The oats should be threshed as soon as possible, but should not be threshed 
when grain is wet from either rain or dew. Store the oats in bulk not over 
three feet deep. Examine the grain daily for at least three weeks and turn 
with shovel, if there are any indications of heating. 

It is well nigh impossible to discuss oats in the Cotton Belt without dis- 
cussing lospedeza, cowpeas, soy beans, and peanuts, as those crops are almost 
as much a counterpart of oats as the Siamese twin Ang was of his brother 
Chang. 

Lespedeza With Oats 

As soon as all danger of frost is past, sow about one bushel of lespedeza 
right on top of the growing oats, and follow with section harrow set slant- 
ing. It is advisable to divide the bushel into two halves and sow them 
broadca.st; lir.st sow half over the land walking east and west and the other 
half walking north and south. 

The oats will be ready to cut in May and June. At this time the lespedeza 
plants will be so small as to be hardly perceptible, though you can see whether 



28 SOW LESPEDEZA IN OATS 

you have a stand or not. Up to that time, the oats have been taking the 
strength and water from the soil, but the first summer rain makes a difference. 
The weeds come with a rush and threaten to choke out the lespedeza plants. 
At this time it is necessary to set the mower blade so high as not to touch 
the lespedeza, and top the weeds once or twice. 

The lespedeza begins to bloom in September and October, and is ready 
to harvest. It is best to cut when in bloom and all green. Do not cut when 
wet from dew or rain. Mow in forenoon, windrow and cock in five or six 
feet high, 200 to 300 pounds to the cock and cover with lowells or eight-ounce 
duck covers about nine feet square. After about three days open, air as 
needed and haul to barn or stack. 

The packed, crusted soil should not be exposed to the sun's rays a single 
day after oats are cut. If lespedeza has not been sown we should use a disk 
harrow and make the surface for two or three inches as fine as possible, for 
a cowpea, soy-bean or peanut crop. By the use of the disk harrow, we can 
thoroughly prepare several acres of stubble land every day for these crops. 
At this season of the year, we are usually very busy and are often unable to 
spare the necessary time to prepare the land with a plow. 

The development of diversified agriculture and the increasing of the 
acreage devoted to oats and leguminous crops, will do much to hasten the 
day of independence on Cotton Belt farms. 

With the golden grain and legumes glistening in the sunshine ready for 
the mower, reaper or binder, and the harvest made abundant through the 
garnering of plenty, there will be peace and prosperity even in the boll weevil 
districts of the lower south. 

Income From Oats 
19 Farms 

COST OF GROWING 

Rent $ 4.60 

Preparing land 1 . 62 

Fertilizer 5.58 

Seed and Seeding • 1.85 

Harvesting 1 . 83 

Threshing 3.23 

Total $18.11 

INCOME 

53.44 bu. at 50c $26.72 

2 tons straw 5 . GO 

Total $31 .72 

Net profit per acre 13 . 61 

The highest yield, 74 bushels per acre. 

The lowest yield, 23 bushels per acre. 

The highest cost, 43 cents per bushel. 

The lowest cost, 20 cents per bushel. 



DRILLING OATS BEST 29 



Why We Should Grow Winter Oats 

1. More profitable than corn. 

2. To reduce winter washing and leaching to the minimum. 

3. To furnish winter grazing. 

4. To add to the always short supply of foodstuffs. 

5. To add humus to the soil. 

6. To supplement the cash crop — cotton. 

7. To encourage the growing of leguminous crops. 

Suggestions for Growing Oats 

1. Soil rich in plant food. 

2. A well prepared seed bed. 

3. Fertilize liberally. 

4. Fall planting. 

5. The best varieties are of the Red Rust Proof type. 

6. Drilling of seed is preferred. 

A. Less seed is necessary. 

B. Seed is covered at a uniform depth. 

C. The small ridges afford protection. 

D. The yield is greater. 

7. Begin cutting when 90 per cent has turned yellow. 

8. Thresh as soon as possible. 

9. Store in bulk not over three feet deep. 

10. Sow lespedeza in March or plant a leguminous crop after oats. 

Value of Crops Grown After Oats 

Cowpea hay at $10.00 per ton ^olnn 

Cowpeas at 12 per bushel ^;i 00 

Spanish peanut hay at $10 per ton 1^-70 

Spanish peanuts at 50c per bushel i.^n 

Soja bean hay at $10 per ton 14. 00 

Soja beans at $2 per bushel 1«00 

Kaffir corn fodder at $5 per ton 1»- o4 

Kaffir corn seed at 50c per bushel oi nn 

Irish potatoes at 50c per bushel i] nn 

Sweet potatoes at 50c per bushel 54 . 00 

Oats sold for $14.55 per acre. 

Arkansas Bulletin No. 66. 

Different Quantities of Seed Oats Per Acre 

Yield 
1 bushel per acre -^^ ■ ^^ 

1 li bushels per acre oq ' o7 

2 bushels per acre qi To 

23^ bushels per acre oT oa 

3 bushels per acre aq ' 77 

2 bushels per acre lo Ir 

23-^ bushels per acre I7 ' no 

3 bushels per acre 47 . 93 

*Arkansas Bui. No. 66. 
^Missouri Bui. Cir. No. 46. 



Corn Growing 



The South Peculiarly Adapted to the Growing of Corn — 
Selection of Seed, Cultivation and Care of Crop 

Corn will occupy a very prominent place in the new system of farming. 
Mixed farming will soon take the place of the one-crop system and combina- 
tions of grasses, leguminous crops, corn and pure bred live stock will result 
in prosperity for our people. 

The long seasons of the South make it peculiarly adapted to the cultiva- 
tion of corn since there is never any risks from early frost catching corn 
as there is in a large part of what is now termed the corn belt. The rain 
fall is sufficient to produce maximum crops and it is only necessary to pul- 
verize the soil and fill it full of vegetable matter and plant food, for from 
five to fifteen inches deep so that it will absorb the rain and then conserve 
the soil water by frequent and shallow cultivation. 

Fertile soil and good seed are essential to success in corn growing, but 
without thorough preparation of the soil before the seed is planted, we 
have no right to expect a good crop of corn. If we will only give our lands the 
preparation that the farmers in the central west give their lands, we can, by 
reason of climatic conditions and natural fitness for the crop, easily beat 
them in production, and the doing of this is not a question of mere appUcation 
of so much fertilizer per acre. 

The quantity of fertilizer that can be profitably used depends mainly 
upon the fertility of the soil. If the soil is deep and full of humus, an applica- 
tion of four or five hundred pounds per acre will usually pay. If the soil is 
shallow and devoid of vegetable matter or humus, it is seldom advisable to 
apply more than two hundred pounds per acre. A mixture of equal parts 
of cottonseed meal and acid phosphate is a good fertilizer for corn on soil 
of average fertility. 

Barnyard Manure for Corn 

Barnyard manure is a valuable fertilizer. It increases the amount of 
available fertiUty in the soil, adds humus to the soil and improves the mechan- 
ical condition. Make liberal applications. 

The average yield of corn in the South is about 15 bushels. It is an easy 
crop to improve in yield and in quahty. The yield to an acre can easily be 
doubled with very little increase in labor or expense by planting better seed, 
by increasing the fertiUty of the soil and by practicing better methods of 
preparation and cultivation. 

There is no crop grown that is so much influenced by being transferred 
from north or south of the section where the corn is to be grown. There- 
fore, we should avoid sending North or South of our latitude for seed, but 
should take at the start the best corn attainable that has been long grown in 
our locality and through careful selection, year after year bred up. 

Professor C. P. Hartley of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, made 
five tests in each of twenty-eight states and home-grown seed gave much 
higher yields than corn brought from a distance. Professor P. G. Holden, 

30 



SOUTH THE LOGICAL CORN BELT 



31 



the authority of this country on corn, made a careful tost in Iowa. The 
average yield produced by seed from other counties was twelve bushels less 
per acre and the yield produced by seed from seed houses was twenty-two 
bushels an acre less than that produced by the local seed selected by careful 
farmers. 

Importance of Good Seed 

The average corn grower plows, plants and cultivates one-eighth to 
one-fifth of his corn acreage without receiving anything for his labor. This 
is because of the vacant hills and barren stalks attributable to poorly selected 
seed. We cannot pay too much attention to the selection of the best ears 
of corn in the field in the fall. In an experiment one ear gave 79 barren 
stalks, or 21 per cent, while another ear gave but six barren stalks or less 
than two per cent. The stalks from the grains on one ear of corn contained 




The right way to fill a silo 

106 suckers while the stalks from another ear were entirely free from suckers. 
One ear produced 55 bushels per acre, while another planted by its side 
yielded eighty-two bushels per acre. 

The method of planting must be adapted to the section and nature of 
the land. Where the soil is high and dry or where very dry weather is likely 
to prevail during the growing season, planting corn in the water furrow is 
probably best. The soil can be gradually worked to the corn. Where the 
land is well drained, it is generally best to plant the corn on a level so that 
flat shallow cultivation may be practiced to the best advantage. On wet 
lands it is usually best to plant on beds and give the corn ridge cultivation. 

The result of the experiment stations seem to indicate that the yield of 
corn in drills is shghtly more than in hills. 

The distance apart in rows and hills must be settled for each locahty and 
each particular soil. The amount of the moisture and the fertility of the 
soil must be considered in deciding the distance in the drill. Where the 
soil is poor and dry, and the weather is usually dry during the growing sea- 



32 CORN SILAOE AND ALFALFA BEST STOCK FEED 

son, best results are generally obtained by having the rows four to five feet 
apart, with one stalk every three feet apart in the row. Where such thin 
planting is necessary, it is generally preferable to plant soy beans, peanuts, 
or some other crop between the corn rows. Of course, on very fertile BC'l. 
the rows may be four feet apart and the corn from six to twelve inches in 
the drill. 

How to Cultivate Corn 

The cultivation of the corn crop should always be level and shallow, 
except in low undrained lands, where it may be necessary to plant on ridges 
and keep the middles clear to assist in drainage. The first cultivation should 
be made before the corn comes out of the ground, and the best implement 
to use is the harrow to merely break the crust and allow the corn to come up 
easily and uniformly. Then follow with a harrow or weeder, going both 
ways and after the corn gets six or eight inches tall, the two horse cultivator, 
which enables the operator to cultivate both sides of a row at once. 

It is always much easier and more satisfactory to prevent the growth of 
weeds than it is to destroy them after they have attained a firm fast hold. 
The section steel harrow or the weeder are the implements to use in cultiva- 
tion on light lands full of humus. For later cultivations after the corn gets 
tall, use the small tooth one-horse cultivator. Worked in this way, the roots 
are unharmed and the moisture is kept right where they seek it. 

Many carefully made experiments have shown that the stalks, leaves 
and shooks of corn, have a feeding value equal to the grain. Of course, if we 
let the stalks stand in the field until the grain is fully matured, the stover 
will be of very little value. But if the corn is cut while the fodder is still 
partially green, that is, as soon as the ears are well glazed and is cured in 
the shocks, the fodder is of far more value for feeding. 

Corn for the Silo 

The most important and valuable advance step in connection with the 
corn crop in recent years, has been the use of the silo into which the nearly 
mature green corn is cut, put up and preserved in a succulent state for winter 
feeding and for tiding over a drought in the summer when the grasses fail 
in the pastures. The silo is indispensable to the breeder of either beef or 
dairy cattle. 

Where it is common to gather the grain only and then turn the cattle 
into the field to glean the fodder, that left standing in the frost soon becomes 
practically worthless. The cattle ranging over the soft and wet ground, 
puddle the soil and do serious injury to it in the future cultivation. Then, 
too, the land is left bare all winter, and loses fertility in winter rains, when it 
should have the green cover crops on it at all times. 

Modern machinery has greatly lessened the labor of cutting and shocking 
the corn. We now have machines to cut and bind the corn and we have 
the buskers and shredders that separate the corn from the stover and tear 
up the whole stalks and leaves into such a shape that not only is a far larger 
portion eaten, but the waste part is in a shape that it makes valuable 
bedding. 



DO NOT IMPOR T ME A T— GROW IT 33 



Corn 

COST OF GROWING PER ACRE 

Land rent $ 4.00 

Seed 25 

Plowing 2 . 00 

Fertilizer 2.00 

Discing 34 

Dragging 48 

Planting (horse planter) 25 

Cultivating 1-62 

Cutting (corn binder) 52 

Shocking and tying 40 

Twine 21 

Cutting stover 3.31 

Hauling to barn 1-^0 

Total 16.38 

35 bu. lo.ss in fertility 13.25 

Total cost to farmer $29 . 63 

INCOME 

35 bu. at 73c $25.55 

1.77 ton stover at $3.00 5.31 

$30.86 

Remedies for Corn Weevil 

Select corn with hard grains. 

Select ears with heavy shuck, completely drawn over end of ear. 

Husk corn and put in tight crib. 

Put carbon-bisulphide in pan on top of corn. 



Draft Horses and Mules 

The Agricultural Development of the South Depends 

Largely Upon the Use of Improved 

Farm Machinery 

We must diversify our crops and keep our money at home to build mag- 
nificent homes, churches, school houses, and good roads, and to educate our 
children and fill our banks to overflowing; keep out of debt and insist on 
getting all that we buy at the lowest price for cash; increase the fertility of 
our soils by reducing washing to the minimum, by deep plowing and turning 
under vegetable matter, a rotation of crops, including leguminous crops, and 
the addition of barnyard manure, phosphorus and potash when needed; 
plant the most prolific seed instead of seed that have run out; use economic 
plants, such as legumes, and small grains and sorghum for feed instead of so 
much expensive corn; use commercial fertilizers judiciously; drain our lands 
better; give our soil better preparation and then frequent and shallow culti- 
vation, but the use of more horse power is probably the most effective remedy 
for poverty in the South. The big key to agricultural reform in the South 
is more horse power and labor-saving farm implements on the farm. The 
average farm worker toils with a small mule or horse and his total annual 
income is only about $148.00. In Iowa the average farm worker uses nearly 
four large horses and produced $011.11 annually, exclusive of stock. An 
analysis of the different states show a much smaller use of power on Southern 
farms than in any other section of the country, and consequently, less use 
of labor saving farm implements and a correspondingly lower earning capacity 
of the farmers. 

Probably the chief cause of poverty in the South is the one-horse breaking 
plow. The small mule and a small turning plow is a guarantee of shallow 
soil devoid of vegetable matter or humus. A shallow soil devoid of vegetable 
matter means small crops and poor farmers. The soil should be deep and 
full of humus in ox'der to increase the storage capacity for water and thereby 
enable it to hold enough water to carry the crop through the longest drought 






This means shallow plowing — a poor seed bed — poor crops 

34 



MORE AND BETTER LIVE STOCK 35 



in the summer though heavily fertihzed. We cannot plow deep or turn 
under the corn and cotton stalks, oat and pea stubble, grass and weeds with 
a one-horse plow. 

One Horse Plows and Cultivators Poor Practice 

Cultivating crops with one-horse plows and one-horse cultivators is a 
slow process and should not be practiced unless the land is full of roots and 
stumps. This is an age of labor-saving farm implements and no farmer can 
afford to walk down each middle three or four times at each cultivation. 
The one-row cultivator should be used by every farmer. 

The farmers of the South should raise the necessary horse power. Mil- 
lions, of dollars are leaving the South each year, for the purchase of mules 
and horses. Few small farmers can afford to keep mules and geldings— at 
least half the work stock on southern farms should be draft mares, actively 
engaged in heavy work and colt production. It is a great economic waste 
not to use one or more draft mares on every farm. 




The modem method of preparing the soil 

The man who employs mules or geldings in farm operations receives in 
return only their labor. Mares employed for farm work, if intelligently 
handled, can do all the work that is required and will produce in addition a 
considerable number of colts, which rapidly develop into marketable animals, 
thereby adding to the farm income. 

Brood Mares for Work Animals 

It is generally considered that three brood mares must be kept to do the 
same work that can be done by a pair of mules or geldings of equal strength, 
but the difference in feed cost is slight, and the value of the colts produced 
off-sets such difference in feed costs with a considerable balance to spare. 
It is perfectly clear that when work done on a farm by two geldings or mules, 
is equally as well done by three mares at a very slight expense in feed cost 



36 



SOUTH NEEDS BETTER FARM IMPLEMENTS 



and when such extra feed cost is offset with a balance of $100 or $150 to spare, 
that it is an economic waste not to use mares. 

The man who uses mares and produces colts, adds to his own wealth and 
to that of the community where he resides. 

We must get pure bred draft sires if we are to build up our present under- 
sized stock of mares into good sized, well built draft mares for farm work 
and colt production. Of course, there Ls a splendid opportunity at the present 
time for many southern farmers to purchase such young draft mares as are 
suited to southern conditions, but we cannot go north and west and buy 
young grade draft mares as cheaply as we can grow them. Furthermore, 
we cannot purchase a sufficient number of young draft mares to make much 
progress within two or three generations. 




A tractor turning four furrows 



The colt from first class draft sire and one of our small mares will usually 
weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. Two or three successive crosses with pure 
bred draft sires will build this undersized stock up into a good grade of draft 
mares weighing about 1,400 pounds. 

Draft horse sires must not only have weight, but they must possess 
quahty. It has been found that the heavy quality will perform more work 
with greater ease than will the horse of phlegmatic disposition and tempera- 
ment. The draft horse that is suited for the South must possess quality. 
There must be no tendency to coarseness, heavy coats of hair, or sluggish 
disposition. 

The i^rojudice that exists against the size of the draft horse is not well 
founded. The Tennessee Experiment Station uses heavy draft Percheron 



BRAINS, NOT MUSCLE, SHOULD TILL THE SOIL 37 

mares with pronounced success. Tljey perform heavy work at this station 
and on many farms throughout the entire summer of each year beside small 
southern grown horses and mules and without greater discomfort. Aside 
from being in harness the two mares at the Tennessee Station reared a heavy 
pair of colts that the Station refused $400 for when six months old. 

Place of the Mule in the South 

The mule is one of the most vital cogs in the industrial, commercial and 
agricultural progress of the South. It is in consequence of his faithful ser- 
vice that the larger part of corn, rice and cotton, as well as numerous other 
crops are produced and transported to market. 




Bailing hay with gasoline power 

The mule is without rival for work in the logging camps. He excels as 
a beast of burden in the railroad camps, and for trucking and for delivery 
purposes in the cities. He possesses the ability to resist disease, and with- 
stand the stress of severe labor on less and poorer feed than the horse. In 
many lines of work and particularly those just mentioned, the mule is decidedly 
superior to the horse and I have no quarrel with those who claim a mule is 
more economically fed and a more efficient work animal than a horse of equal 
weight. At the same time, it must be admitted that the mule is without 
pride of ancestry or hope of posterity and valueless for any purpose other 
than labor. 

Light to medium weight draft mares with plenty of quality produce the 
highest priced mules on the market today. The lighter weight draft mare 
weighing from 1,400 to 1,600 pounds can be bought for less money on the 
northern markets than the weighty trotting or saddle bred mares. It is 
consequently a question of economics to use the draft mare with quahty to 
produce our mules. That the draft mare produces the highest type of mules 
is shown by the fact that nearly all of the highest priced mules on the market 
are evidently from draft mares. 

Blue ribbons on the mules at the State Fairs the last few years have 
always gone to the mules that were out of draft mares. There has been in 



38 



DISCARD THE ONE-MULE SYSTEM OF PLOW] NO 



this respect an entire change from the practice that prevailed a few years 
ago when ribbons were tied on the Hght and more or less fine-boned mules. 
"The sire is half the herd" is one of the old axioms in the live stock world 
and those who have paid close attention to the old sayings, all other things 
being equal, have prospered far beyond the breeders of scrubs. The mule 
is the product of the sire, and if this be true, we at once begin to understand 
the importance of having only large, pure bred jacks on the farms. 




A pure bred sire is half the herd 



Pork Production 

If We Wish to Make A Success in Raising Hogs We Must 
Grow Forage Crops for Feed 

We spend more money for pork than we do for education and religion. 
We send millions of dollars to the north and west for pork and poi'k products. 
We are paying fifteen cents a pound for pork and the records of the experiment 
stations and the actual experiences of hundreds of farmers show that pork 
can easily be produced in this territory for three or four cents a pound. 

The first investment is small and the pig is the quickest money maker on 
the farm. He will live and grow fat on waste products that other stock will 
not eat. He is ready for market almost any time and will bring the top 
price if fat. He multiplies rapidly and if we only furnish him good pastures, 
forage crops, pure water and a little concentrated feed, he will do the rest. 

We can no longer raise cotton to buy pork. We must raise cheap crops 
of peanuts, soy beans, cowpeas, sorghum, artichokes, red clover, rape and so 
on for hogs to graze. No man has ever been able to give a sensible reason 
for growing cotton to pay for bacon and lard, instead of growing cheap forage 
crops to raise hogs. No man has ever been able to give a sensible reason for 
feeding corn from weaning time to killing time instead of raising hogs on 
pasture, forage crops and cheap grain crops. If we wish to make the greatest 
success in raising hogs, we must grow cheap crops for the hogs to graze. 



Hogs Must Have Pasture 

Hog raising can seldom be made profitable without thoroughly good 
permanent pastures where the hogs can obtain the larger part of their coarser 
feed at a small cost and where they can have the exercise which is absolutely 
necessary to good health. Bermuda grass with lespedeza and vetch and one 
or more winter clovers will serve as a permanent pasture and furnish grazing 
the greater part of the spring, summer, and winter. 

A permanent pasture is essential, but temporary grazing crops will do 
much toward reducing the cost of making pork. The Cotton Belt has a large 
number of crops easily grown, that are especially well adapted to the grazing 
of hogs and which furnish not only coarse forage, but also a large amount of 
the gi-ain feed which is needed. A selection can bo made which will give a 
succession lasting nearly or quite through the year. 

It may be a needless waste of space to suggest rotations of crops, since 
different soils, different localities, and different conditions will necessitate 
different series of crops; but it will probably be of help to submit several 
sample rotations to be used as a basis of study. It is not expected either one 
of the rotations will be suited to all needs, but by using them as a basis and 
substituting and adding such crops as are most available, any man can plan 
a rotation suitable to his needs and conditions and provide pasture for his 
hogs 365 days in each year. 

39 



40 LIVE STOCK LEADS TO PERMANENT AGRICULTURE 

Good Forage Crops for Hogs 

Beginning in the fall for the purpose of furnishing winter and early spring 
grazing, oats and vetch planted in September or October will furnish grazing 
through December, January, February, March and part of April. Dwarf 
Essex rape planted in September or October wiU fiu-nish grazing in December, 
January, February and March. 

Artichokes, Chufas and Pindars, planted jn May will furnish grazing 
in November, December and January. Vetch and the winter clovers sown 
in September or October can be pastured in February, March and April. 
Dwarf Essex Rape and sorghum planted in February and March will 
furnish grazing in April and May. 

After harvesting the oats, numerous valuable grazing crops may be 
planted. Mexican June Corn and cowpeas may be planted on a portion of 
the land and peanuts and sweet potatoes on the remainder. The cowpeas, 
peanuts, and Mexican June corn may be used to finish off the hogs for the 
market. 

At the Louisiana Station, peanuts planted after oats gave an average of 
400 pounds of pork and this added to the 200 pounds from grazing the oats 
made a total of 600 pounds of pork per acre and a crop of oats besides. Sweet 
potatoes gave from 400 to 750 pounds of pork per acre. If we take an average 
at 500 pounds and add to this 200 pounds from grazing the oats which pre- 
ceded the sweet potatoes, we have 700 pounds of pork per acre, for one 
season plus the crop of oats harvested. 

The following is taken from Bulletin No. 107, by Professor J. W. Fox of 
the Mississippi Delta Station: "We wish to call particular attention to the 
importance of a pea field, planted in corn at the last working, as a factor in 
cheap pork production. We made an experiment last fall to determine the 
value of such a pasture, the result of which should be very gratifying to the 
Southern farmers, who have a monopoly of such pastures. The Northern 
farmers cannot grow poas planted in corn, but must give them the use of the 
land during the entire growing season. 

Hogs Thrive on Field Peas 

"After the corn was gathered, 51 pigs were turned into the pea field of 
17 acres. They had no additional feed. The pork made from the peas was 
2,893 pounds or 170 pounds per acre. At six cents per pound, this gives a 
value for the peas of .S10.20 per acre. And this is net, as the hogs did their 
own harvesting. Also the manure and humus from the stalks, vines, and 
seed, were left on the land. By tests made at the station for two years to 
determine the value of the peas grown in the corn as a fertilizer, it has been 
found that they increased the succeeding cotton crop by 110 pounds of lint 
per acre." 

At the Alabama Station, cowpeas grown after oats on very poor hill land 
produced 350 pounds of pork per acre. When grown after oats on bottom 
land the cowpeas produced 483 pounds of pork per acre. An acre of Spanish 
peanuts grown after oats on poor gravelly land produced 600 pounds of hve 
weight of hogs. 



LIVE STOCK FARMING MEANS LIVING ON THE FARMS 41 

A certain amount of grain feed is needed to grow hogs with the greatest 
profit but it should be used only to supplement the feeds which the hogs 
harvest for themselves in the pastures and fields. At least one-fourth of a 
full grain ration or one pound to every 100 pounds of live weight should be 
given. When young, the grain feed should be such as will furnish material 
for bone and muscle and not such as will produce an excess of fat. There 
should be a gradual change from the nitrogenous, muscle, making foods given 
the pig to fat-making foods. Grain must not on any account be omitted. 

Pasture grasses and forage crops that will grow healthy, vigorous hogs of 
good quahty must ever remain the basic factor in successful pork production 
in the South. But we cannot afford to build up a reputation for the pro- 
duction of an unsatisfactory carcass such as is produced by grasses, cowpeas, 
soy beans and peanuts. 




Nothing better than alfalfa for hog pasture 

However, this can easily be remedied by feeding the hogs for not less than 
three weeks nor more than four weeks before marketing on a ration of three 
parts of corn or three pounds to every 100 pounds of live weight and one of 
cottonseed meal. The cottonseed meal added will not only make the ration 
the very cheapest in point of increased gains, made, but will also improve the 
carcass by hardening the fat. 

Hog cholera is the limiting factor in pork production. The yearly loss 
from cholera amounts to more than fifty millions of dollars. Men of science 
have been preparaing for a war to death on hog cholera for many years and 
when it breaks out in your herd, be sure and get in touch with a good vet- 
erinarian and urge him to get busy with serum. It wiU probably usually 
pay to sell everything fit to go except brood sows. Take your chances on 



42 ALFALFA MAKES FINE HOO PASTURE 

the brood sows and then breed only from sows that have recovered from the 
cholera. These are usually immune and are very valuable for breeding pur- 
poses. Clean out, disinfect, and go on. 

The hog louse is the only insect which causes much trouble in raising 
hogs. Coal oil is sure death to every louse it touches, but does not always 
kill the eggs. Three applications of a mixture of two parts of lard to one 
part of coal oil at intervals of a week, will destroy all lice on the hogs. Thor- 
oughly clean the sleeping places and sprinkle with coal oil. 

It is, of course, understood that the scrub hog is unfit for pork production. 
In theory, it might be best to do away with all scrub hogs at once and keep 
only pure bred ones. In practice the theory will not work out. The scrub 
hogs would all have to be sold at pork prices and pure breds to take their 
places could be purchased in very limited numbers only and at prohibitive prices 
for the average farmer. The rational way to get a good lot of hogs is to 
breed piu-e bred males to the common females and then to the half and three 
quarter bloods, and continue until they are pure bred as far as all practical 
purposes are concerned. 

Pasture and Forage Make Cheapest Pork 
Pork per Acre 

Oats.followed sweet potatoes 930 lbs. La. Sta. Bui. 123 

Oats followed by peanuts 650 lbs. La. Sta. Bui. 123 

Cowpeas planted in corn at last working 483 lbs. Miss. Sta. Bui. 

Sweet potatoes after oats 490 lbs. La. Sta. Bui. 123 

Alfalfa 596.8 lbs. Mo. Bui. 95 

Red clover 572.2 lbs. Mo. Bui. 95 

Corn hogged off 395.2 lbs. Mo. Bui. 95 

Rape 394.0 lbs. Mo. Bui. 95 

Cowpeas 224.9 lbs. Mo. Bui. 95 

Forage Crops for Hogs 

Months to be Used Crops 

January and February Fall-sown rape and chufas. 

March 1 to April 15 Fall-sown rape, vetches and oats, rye, 

wheat, etc 

April 16 to May 1 Vetches and oats, crimson clover, oats, 

and wheat. 

May Spring-sown rape, vetches and oats, 

wheat, and the usual pastures. 

June Spring-sown rape, stubble fields, turf 

oats, and the usual pastures. 

July and August Sorghum, early varieties of cowpeas, and 

the usual pastures. 
September, October, and November. Spanish peanuts, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, 

and sorghum. 

December Chufas and fall-sown rape. 

Bulletin 93, Ala. Station. 



Live Stock Growing 

Live Stock Farming Leads to a Diversified System of 

Agriculture 

We have between the average and the best in farming in the Cotton Belt 
an attainable 1,000 pei cent. This difference of 1,000 per cent against the 
average farmer is due wholly to conditions which he can easily control with 
the necessary knowledge. Every corporation and business man interested in 
the welfare of the country, should join forces with the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Agricultural Colleges, Experiment Stations, State Depart- 
ments of Agriculture and other forces and conduct great Educational Cam- 
paigns until the foolish and criminal wastes that are going on every year by 
reason of unscientific methods of farming is a thing of the past. 

Our farmers can easily grow twice the average yield of our staple crops. 
This increase would pour many miUions of dollars annually into our industrial 




Galloway cow — a good beef type 

channels. Such an addition could not be made without touching every cor- 
poration, every banker, every storekeeper, every doctor, every lawyer, every 
editor, and in fact, every person in the country. 

During the last ten years our acre yield increased, but not half as much as 
the increase of population. Therefore, there is every inducement to do good 
farming, and to do good farming, we must decrease the number of acres of 
cotton and increase the number devoted to pastures, forage crops and live 
stock. We have all heard the old Dutch proverb quoted before, but we cannot 
quote it too often: "No grass, no stock — no stock, no manure — no manure, 
no crops." Holland is almost entirely a grass and stock country and lands 
are worth on an average of .$500 pei acre. These people have found that they 
can make more out of land from grasses and live stock than they can by 
cultivating it. 

43 



44 SWEET CLOVES FERTILIZES THE LAND 

Unnumbered acres of hill land in the Cotton Belt are making less than one- 
third bale of cotton per acre and at the same time making poverty for those 
tilling them. The cost of commercial fertilizer applied annually is appalling. 
The Razor-back terraces, covered with weeds, grass and briars, and the 
circled and short rows prevent the use of labor-saving implements. 

Millions of acres of poor hillside land now producing less than one-third 
bales of cotton per acre should be plowed deep, well fertilized with acid phos- 
phate and some nitrogen and some potash, when needed, and planted in sum- 
mer and winter legumes for, say two years, and then sodded in Bermuda grass, 
lespedeza, crimson and burr clovers. Only by this method and stock raising 
can our worn out gullied cotton lands be restored to fertility and only in this 
way can the people of our Southland become prosperous and contented. 

More Grass and Less Cotton 

We have worn out our lands in the quickest possible time by growing cot- 
ton, and rigidly excluding grasses, leguminous crops and live stock. We have 




Calves make better farms 

depleted the soil of vegetable matter and it has washed away. This poor soil 
means a poor people, and the poor people means bad roads, uncomfortable 
homes, poorly equipped farms, very little education, the credit system, 
and all that retards civilization. 

The last census shows that our population increased 21 % in the preced- 
ing decade, while our meat producing animals decreased more than 10%. We 
are facing a very serious situation. The meat-producing animals must be 
grown on the farm. The farmers will not long continue to grow stock at a 
loss. The conditions must be such that stock raising is profitable, or the 
farmers will sooner or later go out of the business entirely. 

The Cotton Belt has an overwhelming advantage over every other section 
in live stock raising. We have great climatic advantages that permit outdoor 
pasturing and feeding during the whole, or the greater part of the year. We 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING RESTS UPON LIVE STOCK 45 



can obtain large yields of oats, leguminous crops, Johnson and Bermuda grasses 
sorghum cane hay, and an abundance of corn for making silage, the most 
economic form of carbohydrates. 

The keeping of good live stock and the intelligent use of thoroughly 
good permanent pastures and grazing crops, and the economic use of the 
silo and cotton seed meal will make our lands rich, keep millions of dollars 
at home that are now sent to the North and West, and make our people 
prosperous. 

The calamity howler says: "What about the lack of lime in the soil?" 
Dr. Tait Butler, probably the best posted man on southern agriculture, says 
in summing up a most excellent editorial on "Lime in Southern Feeds." 
We have shown: (1) That our soils are not deficient in lime as regards the 
land food requirements of our crops (2) That plants grown in the South have 
as much ash as the same plants grown elsewhere, and that the feed crops of 
the South, especially the legumes peculiar to the South, contain as high a 
per cent of ash as the feed crops of other sections; (3) That typical southern 
rations or those made up of typical southern feeds contain more ash than 
typical Northern feeds. The conclusion is, therefore, that while our animals 
fail to get the mineral matter they need, it is not because this material is 
deficient in our feeds, but because our animals do not get sufficient of our 
feeds. 

Should Grow More Live Stock 

In the Cotton Belt, live stock farming has been avoided mainly for two 
reasons: (1) Because all-cotton farming paid better until the soil became 
poor; (2) Because of the cattle tick. Now, millions of acres are too poor to 
grow cotton profitably and we can easily eradicate the cattle tick. Since the 
work of eradicating the tick was inaugurated, over two hundred thousand 
square miles have been cleaned for all time; this is an area over three times as 
large as Alabama. The tick injures the hide, reduces the milk flow at least 
ten per cent, make it very difficult to fatten cattle, prevents the introduction 




Dipping vat on I H C demonstration farm at Brookhaven, Mississippi 



46 EVEET FARM SHOULD HAVE A SILO 

of good cattle to breed up our native cattle, lowers the price of our cattle on 
the markets and destroys more than enough cattle every year to pay for its 
eradication. 

The growing of crops that impoverish the soil and the selling of all the 
crops grown and the attempt to keep up the productivity of the soil by the 
use of commercial fertilizer, must give way to a new system of farming. In 
this new system of farming we will practice a rotation of crops including 
leguminous crops and the crops grown will be largely fed to good live stock, 
manure carefully saved and applied to the soil, and the necessary commercial 
fertilizer judiciously applied. 

It is the function of live stock on the farm to furnish a market the crops for 
that are grown, enabling the farmers to convert grasse, forage crops, cowpeas, 
and soy beans, and so on into higher priced finished products and to return 
to the soil the plant food taken from it. Probably the greatest need of the 
farmers in the Cotton Belt at present is, more grass, more leguminous crops, 
and more live stock, and those who assist in eradicating the cattle tick and 
in otherwise helping to create conditions that will enable farmers to grow two 
good animals in the place of one scrub is surely as great benefactors as those 
who cause two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before. 

Live stock should certainly be given a prominent place in the agricultural 
development of the Cotton Belt. Next to having good and intelligent people 
in a country, good live stock is probably of the most importance. . This being 
true, every state in the Cotton Belt should encourage the growing of more and 
better live stock by eradicating the tick and by teaching improved methods 
of stock breeding and raising. 

We Must Grow Live Stock 
Why? 

1. To make the soil fertile. 

2. To get the horses and mules necessary for economical crop production. 

3. To secure milk, butter, beef and pork for home use. 

4. To furnish profitable employment the year round. 

5. To add to the income on the farm. 

How? 

1. Have good permanent pastures. 

2. Grow forage crops, principally leguminous crops. 

3. Make use of waste feed. 

a. The corn stalks, 

(a) Silo 

(b) Shredder 

b. Save the Straw. 

4. Provide shelter and shade. 

Feeding Beef Cattle 

Grass is of great value as an adjunct in finishing cattle. 

Silage is of high feeding value and should be used liberally as a roughage. 



GROW MOBE FORAOE CROPS 47 



Silage is a laxative and should be fed with a small amount of dry roughage. 
It is seldom advisable to grind the grain. 
Cotton seed meal is the cheapest concentrate. 

Value of Cotton Seed 

Don't sell Cottonseed Meal — Feed it 
One pound of Cottonseed Meal equals 1.60 lbs of Cottonseed. 
One pound of Cottonseed Meal equals 1.92 pounds of Corn. 
One pound of Cottonseed equals 1.22 pounds of Corn. 

The Feeding value of a ton of Cottonseed Meal $28 . 56 

The Manure from a ton of Cottonseed Meal consumed 19. 13 

Feed and Manurial value of Cottonseed Meal $47 . 69 

Mississippi Bui. No. 60. 

Value of Silage 

It is rich in nutrients especially suited for stock. 
It is easily digested. 

Its palatability is due to its aroma and succulence. 
It aids in cooling the system. 

It is a most e.\cellent laxative and keeps the system free from effete 
material. 

Feeding Beef Cattle 

r. r u , , I^bs. of beef 
Une acre or soy beans produced 540 

One acre of cowpeas produced 327 

One acre of corn produced 203 

Grow soy beans and cowpeas to feed cattle and enrich the soil. 

Tenn. Bui. 79. 




A Partial List of Literature on Diversified Farming 



Diversification 
Leguminous Crops 

COWPEAS 



Peanuts 



Soy Beans 



Vetch 

Velvet Beans 

Lespedeza 
Pastures 

Oats 



Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 98, 144, 192, 242, 245, 299, 327, 
370, 398, 437. 

Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 121, 278, 315, 323, 455. 

Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 89, 124, 2^2, 225, 244, 309, 318. 
Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletins 14, 107, 114, 118, 120, 

122, 123. 
Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletins 40, 55, 72. 
Florida Expt. Sta. Bulletin 2. 
Georgia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 26. 
North Carolina Expt. Sta. Bulletin 182. 
Mississippi Expt. Sta. Bulletin 40. 
Tennessee Expt. Sta. Bulletin 96. 
Arkansas Expt. Sta. Bulletins 70, 77, 80. 

Farmers' Bulletins 227, 356, 431. 
Arkansas Expt. Sta. Bulletin 84. 
Florida Expt. Sta. Bulletin 87. 

Farmers' Bulletins 78, 97, 309, 372, 514. 
Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletin 114, 123. 
Kentucky Expt. Sta. Bulletins 98, 125, 161. 
Virginia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 145. 
Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletin 72. 
Tennessee Expt. Sta. Bulletins 23, 80. 

Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletins 87, 96, 105. 
Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletin 72. 
Mississippi Expt. Sta. Bulletin 44. 

Farmers' Bulletin 102. 

Florida Expt. Sta. Bulletins 14, 60. 

Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletins 104, 120. 

Farmers' Bulletin 441. 

Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletins 72, 130. 



Farmers' Bulletins 66, 300. 

Tennessee Expt. Sta. Bulletins, Vol. 11, Nos. 2, 

Virginia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 193. 

West Virginia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 109. 

Farmers' Bulletins 42b, 424, 436. 
Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletin 137, 173. 
Georgia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 72. 
Arkansas Expt. Sta. Bulletin 66. 
North Carolina Expt. Sta. Bulletin 212. 
Missouri Rept. for 1909. 



3,4. 



48 



Corn 



Horses 



Pork Proddction 



Live Stock 



Cattle Tick 
Cotton 



Boll Weevil 

Rice 

Drainage 
Dairying 
Alfalfa 



Farmers' Bulletins 81, 229, 253, 313, 400, 414, 415. 

Virginia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 202. 

Texas Expt. Sta. Bulletin 92. 

Missouri Expt. Sta. Bulletin 106. 

Georgia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 78. 

Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletin 53. 

Arkansas Expt. Sta. Bulletin 24. 

Bureau of Animal Industry 3, 124, 137, 170, 178, 186. 
Illinois Expt. Sta. 122, 150. 
Utah Expt. Sta. 107. 
Wisconsin Expt. Sta. 186. 
Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, 181. 

. ■' -^ •• 

Farmers' Bulletins lOO, 133, 183, 205, 411, 438. 

Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletins 123. 

Missouri Expt. Sta. Bulletin 95. 

Alabama Expt. Sta. Bulletins 93, 154. 

Farmers' Bulletins 22, 71, 106, 124, 151, 184, 233, 241, 

258, 349, 355. 
Tennessee Expt. Sta. Bulletin 79. 
Mississippi Expt. Sta. Bulletin 111. 

Farmers' Bulletins 258 261. 

Farmers' Bulletins 36, 48, 98, 285, 286, 302, 319, 323. 
- 364, 370. 

Knapp's Method of Growing Cotton by Sovely and 
Mercier. 

U. S. Senate Document 305. 

Farmers' Bulletins 209, 211, 314, 344, 512. 

Farmers' Bulletin 110. 

Farmers' Bulletin 187. 

Farmers Bulletins 349, 355. 

Georgia Expt. Sta. Bulletin 51. 
Louisiana Expt. Sta. Bulletin 72. 
Tennessee Expt. Sta. Bulletin 28. 



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